A digest of events, trends, issues, ideas and journalism from and about rural America, by the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, based at the University of Kentucky.
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Friday, December 09, 2016

Trump over-performed Romney most in places with high substance-abuse mortality and suicide rates

Donald Trump improved the Republican presidential vote "in counties
with the highest drug, alcohol and suicide
mortality rates," says a study by rural sociologist and demographer Shannon Monnat of Penn State, which compared Trump's vote with that of Mitt Romney in 2012.

"Much of this relationship is accounted for by
economic distress and the proportion of
working-class residents," Monnat writes. "Trump performed best in counties with high
economic distress and a large working class.
Drug, alcohol and suicide mortality rates are
higher in counties with more economic
distress and a larger working class.
Many of the counties with high mortality
rates where Trump did the best have
experienced significant employment losses in
manufacturing over the past several decades," mainly the industrial Midwest, Appalachia and New England.

"People often (but not always) turn to pills, syringes, the bottle and other self-destructive behaviors when they lose hope, when they don’t have the means to live comfortably or when they don’t get the dignity that comes from work," writes James Hohmann of The Washington Post, citing counties in Ohio, West Virginia and New Hampshire as examples in the study.

"Alcoholism, overdoses and suicide are symptoms of the deeper social decay that was caused by deindustrialization. This decay led to the fears and anxieties which Trump so effectively capitalized on," Hohmann reports. "I saw this firsthand on the campaign trail all year, in countless interviews with folks who were down in the dumps and struggling to get ahead (or, quite frankly, just get by). Many supported Barack Obama eight years ago because they were desperate for hope and change. They’re still desperate, and now they’re hopeful Trump can bring the change they’re looking for."

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This blog generally follows traditional journalistic standards. It's not about opinions, though you may read one here occasionally. It's about facts that we think will be useful to rural journalists, non-rural journalists who do rural stories, and others interested in rural issues. We don't try to be provocative, so we don't generate as many comments as most blogs with the level of traffic we have, but we certainly invite comments -- and contributions, to al.cross@uky.edu. Feel free to republish blog items, with credit to us and the original source.